Thursday was the day for my walking tour of Istanbul. I joined up with my group, which was made up of mostly Germans (Note: Germans are much better tourists than Americans). We walked in the square where the Hippodrome (coliseum) used to be, saw the Blue Mosque from the inside (quite impressive), and visited the Haghia Sophia (now a museum). I feel I can't go into much detail about these things, as the pictures I will eventually upload will do a much better job than I ever could.
We went to have lunch at the same restaurant as the day before, and then went off to see Topkapi palace, a Versailles-like structure with great gardens and a very interesting story. Unfortunately it's been a while and I don't remember it. Anyway, after the palace, we went to see a rug presentation by a local company, before finishing off the day at the Grand Bazaar. I swear the tours are centred around getting me to spend all my money in Turkey rather than somewhere else (and it f***ing worked, too).
After my last night in the beautiful Rast Hotel, I was picked up by my new driver, who may have been crazier than the first guy. I set off to visit the West coast of Turkey, driving to Eceabat, a small ghost town which was once a fishing village. I decided at this point that Portugal, coastal Turkey, and most of Newfoundland are exactly the same place. None of the non-capital cities actually have people living in them, the boats are all wrecked or unused, and no one in any of these places speaks comprehensible English.
After this epiphany, I got in the tour van to visit the Gallipoli sites. For those of you who don't know, April 25th is ANZAC day, celebrating the tremendous contribution of Australian and New Zealand forces to the Allied push for control of Turkey. This year will mark the 95th anniversary. Seeing as this is primarily an Australian event, I was not surprised to meet a great number of Australians this day as well as the next.
Our tour took us to ANZAC Cove, where the forces first landed. We also saw many of the CWGC-maintained cemeteries, and the memorials for each the Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish forces who fought over the year the Allies attempted to gain control of Southwestern Turkey. All day, the weather allowed for amazing views of the Cove, as well as the legendary Sphinx rock formation. This was a great learning experience and a much-appreciated tour between historical periods.
That night, with a hotel reservation in Canakkale, a nearby tourist-oriented town, I was informed that I was instead to stay in Eceabat (that ghetto I referred to earlier). Disappointed, but with no real choice, I unpacked in my new (and still under construction) room. I found a place for dinner, ate, watched some Turkish TV, switching to the US Army "Pentagon" propaganda channel whenever one of the locals sat on the couch with me. Surprisingly effective for emptying a room of Turks. That was my payback for the reservation change.
Apparently this spite didn't last too long as I slept quite well in my room that night, eagerly awaiting the last two days of my trip.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Trip of a Lifetime - Turkiye Days 1 & 2
Dear Readers,
I returned last night from my recent trip to Turkey. It was the experience of a lifetime, truly not something to be missed. To walk in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, Suleiman the Magnificent, Caliph Abu Bekr, and see more or less what they saw... unbelievable!
I have decided that I will post about my trip in 2-day intervals. I will begin of course with my arrival on Tuesday the 23rd.
The flight from Paris to Istanbul was an unexciting 3h05m trek, complete with an Air France lunch and a lack of anything interesting. I was picked up at the airport by my private driver. I could go on about this guy alone for a few paragraphs, but I will summarize my ride to my hotel this way: no matter if the speed limit was 30, 50, 70 or 100, this guy went 110. He also created lanes for himself whenever necessary. I loved Istanbul already.
Upon arriving at my 4-star hotel, I checked in and logged on to inform certain key people that I'd arrived safely. I then set out to walk the streets of Istanbul. This city is truly a great outdoor museum, and the people there are among the most patriotic I've seen.
I was hungry so I went to find dinner. I found it by following my usual instinct: follow the music. There was live music at one place, and in the window, 3 women dressed in traditional Ottoman robes were making Turkish crêpes. Needless to say, I went in.
Turkish service is interesting; if there are 4 waiters working, all 4 will attend to the person that needs their help at a given time. If someone walks in, they all greet them, leaving all the other customers alone. And yet, the Turks pride themselves on quick service. No sooner had I ordered my first 2 crêpes than my waiter showed up with 2 crêpes. They were absolutely wonderful. I then ordered some meat, and followed it with a dessert. All the while, the band was playing traditional Turkish music. First dining experience: exceptional!
I then walked back to my hotel, relaxed and went to bed.
The next morning, I was supposed to have a walking tour of Istanbul. Supposed to. Turns out the company switched my day 2 with my day 3. So instead, I went on a boat cruise of the Bosphorus river. It was quite cold and cloudy, so it was the least suitable day of the week for a boat cruise. That said, the cruise was nice, and I got to see the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
After the cruise, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant, and then headed to Dolmabahçe palace, a very fancy Ottoman structure, similar to Versailles, but with a view on the Bosphorus.
Following this tour, I went back to my hotel, dropped off my things, and went off to find another dinner. Somehow, following the same aural instinct, I ended up at the other side of town in a small Döner shop blairing club music. The man standing outside yelling at potential customers told me I just had to try their Iksender dish, basically a Döner drenched in tomato sauce. De-friggin-licious.
I then went back to my hotel for some sleep. Maybe I'd have a walking tour the next morning!
That covers the first two days. Stay tuned for days 3 through 6!
Advance warning: Pictures will be slow this time, as there are over 300 of them, and Facebook (as well as Blogger) want me to upload 5 at a time. *sigh*
Hope you all have a good evening!
I returned last night from my recent trip to Turkey. It was the experience of a lifetime, truly not something to be missed. To walk in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, Suleiman the Magnificent, Caliph Abu Bekr, and see more or less what they saw... unbelievable!
I have decided that I will post about my trip in 2-day intervals. I will begin of course with my arrival on Tuesday the 23rd.
The flight from Paris to Istanbul was an unexciting 3h05m trek, complete with an Air France lunch and a lack of anything interesting. I was picked up at the airport by my private driver. I could go on about this guy alone for a few paragraphs, but I will summarize my ride to my hotel this way: no matter if the speed limit was 30, 50, 70 or 100, this guy went 110. He also created lanes for himself whenever necessary. I loved Istanbul already.
Upon arriving at my 4-star hotel, I checked in and logged on to inform certain key people that I'd arrived safely. I then set out to walk the streets of Istanbul. This city is truly a great outdoor museum, and the people there are among the most patriotic I've seen.
I was hungry so I went to find dinner. I found it by following my usual instinct: follow the music. There was live music at one place, and in the window, 3 women dressed in traditional Ottoman robes were making Turkish crêpes. Needless to say, I went in.
Turkish service is interesting; if there are 4 waiters working, all 4 will attend to the person that needs their help at a given time. If someone walks in, they all greet them, leaving all the other customers alone. And yet, the Turks pride themselves on quick service. No sooner had I ordered my first 2 crêpes than my waiter showed up with 2 crêpes. They were absolutely wonderful. I then ordered some meat, and followed it with a dessert. All the while, the band was playing traditional Turkish music. First dining experience: exceptional!
I then walked back to my hotel, relaxed and went to bed.
The next morning, I was supposed to have a walking tour of Istanbul. Supposed to. Turns out the company switched my day 2 with my day 3. So instead, I went on a boat cruise of the Bosphorus river. It was quite cold and cloudy, so it was the least suitable day of the week for a boat cruise. That said, the cruise was nice, and I got to see the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
After the cruise, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant, and then headed to Dolmabahçe palace, a very fancy Ottoman structure, similar to Versailles, but with a view on the Bosphorus.
Following this tour, I went back to my hotel, dropped off my things, and went off to find another dinner. Somehow, following the same aural instinct, I ended up at the other side of town in a small Döner shop blairing club music. The man standing outside yelling at potential customers told me I just had to try their Iksender dish, basically a Döner drenched in tomato sauce. De-friggin-licious.
I then went back to my hotel for some sleep. Maybe I'd have a walking tour the next morning!
That covers the first two days. Stay tuned for days 3 through 6!
Advance warning: Pictures will be slow this time, as there are over 300 of them, and Facebook (as well as Blogger) want me to upload 5 at a time. *sigh*
Hope you all have a good evening!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Peter Gabriel in Concert - A review in two parts
Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am currenly in Istanbul, but the purpose of this post is to enlighten you on the events of Monday evening. I will post about Turkey later (and I have 210 picutres in 2 1/2 days here, so there will be a lot to blog about, don't worry). For now, I will focus on the Peter Gabriel concert.
Part 1 - Pre-concert and concert
In the hours leading up to the concert, I had nothing to really do. I thought I'd explore this new part of Paris I have not seen (or at least I think I haven't...) This included the Palais Omnisports de Bercy, the shopping centre at Châtelet - Les Halles, and the surrounding area. This part of Paris is not so much a tourist area, and in fact includes a very nice park, Yitzak Rabin park, for people to stroll through. I also saw the cinémathèque and a few other things before waiting in front of the Palais Omnisports for the concert to begin.
Once inside, I found my seat, then wandered around a bit. There were the usual people selling the usual snacks and souvenirs, so I went back to my seat and took a few pictures of the empty arena. 5 minutes before showtime, the arena was full. White people had come from all over France and England to take in this concert. Around 10,000 in all, many of whom I found out had not heard any of Gabriel's music since the 80's, and were all waiting for Games Without Frontiers.
They would be very disappointed. Right at showtime, Mr. Gabriel himself came on stage (his stage presence has vanished, along with his voice, as he has gotten older) to introduce a young singer who was talented, but stylistically just a more annoying version of Feist. After only 3 songs, she left, and the lights came back on. For a good 15 minutes.
As the stragglers found their seats, Mr. Gabriel came back, and the curtain lifted, revealing the orchestra. Epic! As they started into "Sledgehammer", the only thought on my mind was "this is going to be awesome!" However, about 10 seconds in, Gabriel stops the band, saying "no, we're not actually going to play that. I'd like to focus on my new CD, then play some classics after the entr'acte." Cue sigh of disappointment from 10,000 people.
The "new CD" is actually quite good, with a few tributes (notably Neil Young's "Philadelphia") and a few of his own songs. The orchestra made for a very pleasant listening experience, and the visuals were not too far short of what I expected from Gabriel. At half time, the curtain fell, and we got a nice 20-minute break.
After the break, Gabriel came back with most of the good songs from 1990 - 2003, including "Digging in the Dirt", "Solsbury Hill", and a load of other classics. Conspicuously absent were the aforementioned "Games Without Frontiers" and "Sledgehammer", which pretty much sucked, but again the experience was good. During the encore, for no apparent reason, Youssou N'Dour came out to help Gabriel sing something or other, and the concert ended with an instrumental (again for no reason).
With mild frustration taking over, I left the Palais Omnisports to catch the last RER to Charles de Gaulle. It was 11:15 pm. Here's where things got interesting.
Part 2 - After the concert a.k.a. Why Paris takes it up the *ss from most European cities I've been to
Warning: this section may contain explicit language. You've been warned. **Frankie, don't read this part**
The RER running between 11 pm and 1 am has been indefinitely cancelled due to a "modernisation" of the line.
What the fuck?! So no one can get to the airport after 11 pm unless they pay for a taxi?
There was no warning, there were no indications of what to do. Annoyed, I paced around Les Halles station looking for clues. There was one: the announcer said "The RER has been cancelled. Fuck You." No, what he actually said was "The RER will not serve Charles de Gaulle until May 2012. Please take a bus from this station." Easy enough, but there are no buses at Les Halles. So I went to Gare du Nord, one metro stop away. This was at 11:40. Once I reached Gare du Nord, the same announcement was made about the RER, except this time, there are actually buses. The buses start running at 1 am, however, and I recall saying "Fuck that shit" out load, to the enjoyment of French people nearby.
I went and asked some bus drivers what I should do. Their answer was to go to Gare de l'Est instead, where the buses run more frequently. So I went. It was midnight.
Gare de l'Est's buses run starting at 12:55 am. Moderately irate, I went back to Gare du Nord to listen to the announcement again, just for fun. I found out at this point that the RER still ran, just stopped halfway to the airport. Then, all became clear. This station didn't mean Gare du Nord. This station meant the one at the end of the RER line. With new hope, I got on the RER to Aulnay-sous-bois or whatever the hell it's called.
It worked! There were buses. Minor problem: my hotel is a 15-minute bus ride from the airport. Airport shuttles stop running at 12:10. I got to Charles de Gaulle at 1 am. Fuck.
So with no choice whatsoever, I took a taxi. As it turns out, my taxi driver knew his way around Roissy about as much as I did (if not less). 45 minutes later, I got to my hotel. Abdul (or whatever) decided that his incompetence should not cost me money, and only charged me half the fare, around 15% more than I figure it would have cost for a guy who knew what he was doing. Out 25 Euro, and tired as hell (it was almost 2 am after all), I went to bed. Then I woke up at 6 cause I had a flight to catch. A flight... to Istanbul!
In conclusion, I feel that this negative experience really affected my enjoyment of the concert. My review of Peter Gabriel would have been more enthusiastic and musically intelligent had the RER been running. This experience only contributes to my disdain for Paris and cities like it (I'm looking at you, Ottawa), and further increases my retroactive enjoyment of Madrid, Granada and Prague.
As I mentioned, I will be posting about Istanbul and the rest of my Turkey trip upon my return to Reims. Pictures will be provided at that time.
Ok, well, maybe a few of Peter Gabriel...
I am currenly in Istanbul, but the purpose of this post is to enlighten you on the events of Monday evening. I will post about Turkey later (and I have 210 picutres in 2 1/2 days here, so there will be a lot to blog about, don't worry). For now, I will focus on the Peter Gabriel concert.
Part 1 - Pre-concert and concert
In the hours leading up to the concert, I had nothing to really do. I thought I'd explore this new part of Paris I have not seen (or at least I think I haven't...) This included the Palais Omnisports de Bercy, the shopping centre at Châtelet - Les Halles, and the surrounding area. This part of Paris is not so much a tourist area, and in fact includes a very nice park, Yitzak Rabin park, for people to stroll through. I also saw the cinémathèque and a few other things before waiting in front of the Palais Omnisports for the concert to begin.
Once inside, I found my seat, then wandered around a bit. There were the usual people selling the usual snacks and souvenirs, so I went back to my seat and took a few pictures of the empty arena. 5 minutes before showtime, the arena was full. White people had come from all over France and England to take in this concert. Around 10,000 in all, many of whom I found out had not heard any of Gabriel's music since the 80's, and were all waiting for Games Without Frontiers.
They would be very disappointed. Right at showtime, Mr. Gabriel himself came on stage (his stage presence has vanished, along with his voice, as he has gotten older) to introduce a young singer who was talented, but stylistically just a more annoying version of Feist. After only 3 songs, she left, and the lights came back on. For a good 15 minutes.
As the stragglers found their seats, Mr. Gabriel came back, and the curtain lifted, revealing the orchestra. Epic! As they started into "Sledgehammer", the only thought on my mind was "this is going to be awesome!" However, about 10 seconds in, Gabriel stops the band, saying "no, we're not actually going to play that. I'd like to focus on my new CD, then play some classics after the entr'acte." Cue sigh of disappointment from 10,000 people.
The "new CD" is actually quite good, with a few tributes (notably Neil Young's "Philadelphia") and a few of his own songs. The orchestra made for a very pleasant listening experience, and the visuals were not too far short of what I expected from Gabriel. At half time, the curtain fell, and we got a nice 20-minute break.
After the break, Gabriel came back with most of the good songs from 1990 - 2003, including "Digging in the Dirt", "Solsbury Hill", and a load of other classics. Conspicuously absent were the aforementioned "Games Without Frontiers" and "Sledgehammer", which pretty much sucked, but again the experience was good. During the encore, for no apparent reason, Youssou N'Dour came out to help Gabriel sing something or other, and the concert ended with an instrumental (again for no reason).
With mild frustration taking over, I left the Palais Omnisports to catch the last RER to Charles de Gaulle. It was 11:15 pm. Here's where things got interesting.
Part 2 - After the concert a.k.a. Why Paris takes it up the *ss from most European cities I've been to
Warning: this section may contain explicit language. You've been warned. **Frankie, don't read this part**
The RER running between 11 pm and 1 am has been indefinitely cancelled due to a "modernisation" of the line.
What the fuck?! So no one can get to the airport after 11 pm unless they pay for a taxi?
There was no warning, there were no indications of what to do. Annoyed, I paced around Les Halles station looking for clues. There was one: the announcer said "The RER has been cancelled. Fuck You." No, what he actually said was "The RER will not serve Charles de Gaulle until May 2012. Please take a bus from this station." Easy enough, but there are no buses at Les Halles. So I went to Gare du Nord, one metro stop away. This was at 11:40. Once I reached Gare du Nord, the same announcement was made about the RER, except this time, there are actually buses. The buses start running at 1 am, however, and I recall saying "Fuck that shit" out load, to the enjoyment of French people nearby.
I went and asked some bus drivers what I should do. Their answer was to go to Gare de l'Est instead, where the buses run more frequently. So I went. It was midnight.
Gare de l'Est's buses run starting at 12:55 am. Moderately irate, I went back to Gare du Nord to listen to the announcement again, just for fun. I found out at this point that the RER still ran, just stopped halfway to the airport. Then, all became clear. This station didn't mean Gare du Nord. This station meant the one at the end of the RER line. With new hope, I got on the RER to Aulnay-sous-bois or whatever the hell it's called.
It worked! There were buses. Minor problem: my hotel is a 15-minute bus ride from the airport. Airport shuttles stop running at 12:10. I got to Charles de Gaulle at 1 am. Fuck.
So with no choice whatsoever, I took a taxi. As it turns out, my taxi driver knew his way around Roissy about as much as I did (if not less). 45 minutes later, I got to my hotel. Abdul (or whatever) decided that his incompetence should not cost me money, and only charged me half the fare, around 15% more than I figure it would have cost for a guy who knew what he was doing. Out 25 Euro, and tired as hell (it was almost 2 am after all), I went to bed. Then I woke up at 6 cause I had a flight to catch. A flight... to Istanbul!
In conclusion, I feel that this negative experience really affected my enjoyment of the concert. My review of Peter Gabriel would have been more enthusiastic and musically intelligent had the RER been running. This experience only contributes to my disdain for Paris and cities like it (I'm looking at you, Ottawa), and further increases my retroactive enjoyment of Madrid, Granada and Prague.
As I mentioned, I will be posting about Istanbul and the rest of my Turkey trip upon my return to Reims. Pictures will be provided at that time.
Ok, well, maybe a few of Peter Gabriel...
Monday, March 22, 2010
Why didn't we stay here the first time?
Good Morning.
I am sitting in my hotel room near Roissy Charles de Gaulle, paying an unfathomable hourly rate to use the Internet. This will perhaps be the most expensive post of this entire year. On a related note, Comfort Hotel's "WiFi Access" is bollocks.
But enough about that.
I have just ended a hugely successful and highly enjoyable weekend with my friends in Voisins-le-Bretonneux. Arriving Saturday evening, I met with my best friend Jérôme for a nice, relaxing evening of catching up. Apparently not much catching up to do, as it was just like old times. Unsurprisingly, he hasn't changed much, and apparently, apart from my height and hair, neither have I. We haven't skipped a beat.
Saturday night he brought me and my excessive luggage to his apartment, showed me the room where I'd be staying, and reminded his parents that I'm actually that little short kid he used to hang out with. After helping his father get his lower jaw off the floor, we continued with the re-introductions, seeing his mother, who has changed as little as father and son, and of course, Amélie, the sister, who is an entirely different story. But let's move on.
Jérôme and I went out for dinner to a local restaurant (read: McDonald's) where we were joined by our friend Benoit, with whom I used to play Pokémon. After McD's, we went back to Jérôme's place for a bit of Xbox while waiting for a 4th man to go play pool. The billiard hall in Montigny is quite modern, and fulfills several purposes quite efficiently. Not only is there a large billiard hall, but also a bar, a dance floor with a DJ, and a sitting area with huge flat-screen TV. I mean, I guess when you have about 50,000 people to draw from in a huge area, you have to provide all the entertainment. Anyway, pool was fun (I lost 1 of 6 matches and somehow managed to learn the rules of Snooker while not playing Snooker) and on a very positive note, I said goodbye to Benoit and Cédric for the night.
Sunday was sleep-in day. Unfortunately, the Luquain household considers 11 am "sleeping in". I reminded them that I went to bed at 9 am after a party once, to the laughter of Jérôme and his parents, and a look of envy from Amélie (gotta get out of Voisins for the real party I guess). Not so unfortunately, breakfast and lunch followed each other very closely, and I was able to eat brioche and drink hot chocolate for the first time in a week or so, and then follow it up with some roast duck, a very good dish which I could not identify (I believe there was corn meal, cheese, zucchini and tomato involved), and a nice Currant wine.
That afternoon, Jérôme had to go vote, so he went to pick up his girlfriend Céline while I tried my hand at Prototype for the 360 (note: Frankie, you would like this game). With Céline and Benoit back at the apartment, we all walked to my old elementary school where the nearest polling stating was set up (I will post some pictures after my Turkey trip). After this, Benoit went home for dinner, and I went back to the apartment for some homemade crêpes (Amélie can cook - Frankie: take notes :P ), filled with either ham/emmenthal, or smoked salmon/asparagus/cream sauce. They were delicious! The dessert was, well, the unused crêpes, which I filed with jam. Yum!
After dinner, we picked up Benoit again and we all went to the local behemoth cinema (read: half the size of AMC Kanata) to take in a somewhat-romantic somewhat-comedy (which was, in fact, the best movie with seats still available) called "Pièce Montée". I hadn't seen a French film since the depressing Mélanie Laurent movie I watched a few weeks back, so I guess this was a nice treat. Of course, seeing as it was Sunday, we all had to get home early so some people could get to class this morning.
I woke up at 6:30 today, having slept little, but having greatly enjoyed my weekend. I bid farewell to Jérôme's father (his mom was sleeping and his sister ran out of the apartment while I was packing) and left to take the train at St-Quentin, direction Paris Montparnasse. At this point, I said goodbye to my friend, suggesting he come visit in Reims so he can see how 20-some-year-old business students party (I'm thinking WallStreet). I then took the metro to the RER station which brought me to the airport so I could take a bus to get to my hotel. I have to go back and redo all that when I eventually decide to go sightseeing, before heading to my concert tonight! Reminder: Peter Gabriel in Paris! It's going to be awesome!
Then, tomorrow, off to Istanbul, for what just might be the most amazing shopping spree, er, I mean, vacation, so far this year (I brought the big suitcase, I think I might just try to fill it).
Hope you all have a great week. I'll be back in Reims Sunday night so hopefully I'll post something then. If not, I will probably do so Monday night, after my first "Wine Marketing" class.
Cheers!
I am sitting in my hotel room near Roissy Charles de Gaulle, paying an unfathomable hourly rate to use the Internet. This will perhaps be the most expensive post of this entire year. On a related note, Comfort Hotel's "WiFi Access" is bollocks.
But enough about that.
I have just ended a hugely successful and highly enjoyable weekend with my friends in Voisins-le-Bretonneux. Arriving Saturday evening, I met with my best friend Jérôme for a nice, relaxing evening of catching up. Apparently not much catching up to do, as it was just like old times. Unsurprisingly, he hasn't changed much, and apparently, apart from my height and hair, neither have I. We haven't skipped a beat.
Saturday night he brought me and my excessive luggage to his apartment, showed me the room where I'd be staying, and reminded his parents that I'm actually that little short kid he used to hang out with. After helping his father get his lower jaw off the floor, we continued with the re-introductions, seeing his mother, who has changed as little as father and son, and of course, Amélie, the sister, who is an entirely different story. But let's move on.
Jérôme and I went out for dinner to a local restaurant (read: McDonald's) where we were joined by our friend Benoit, with whom I used to play Pokémon. After McD's, we went back to Jérôme's place for a bit of Xbox while waiting for a 4th man to go play pool. The billiard hall in Montigny is quite modern, and fulfills several purposes quite efficiently. Not only is there a large billiard hall, but also a bar, a dance floor with a DJ, and a sitting area with huge flat-screen TV. I mean, I guess when you have about 50,000 people to draw from in a huge area, you have to provide all the entertainment. Anyway, pool was fun (I lost 1 of 6 matches and somehow managed to learn the rules of Snooker while not playing Snooker) and on a very positive note, I said goodbye to Benoit and Cédric for the night.
Sunday was sleep-in day. Unfortunately, the Luquain household considers 11 am "sleeping in". I reminded them that I went to bed at 9 am after a party once, to the laughter of Jérôme and his parents, and a look of envy from Amélie (gotta get out of Voisins for the real party I guess). Not so unfortunately, breakfast and lunch followed each other very closely, and I was able to eat brioche and drink hot chocolate for the first time in a week or so, and then follow it up with some roast duck, a very good dish which I could not identify (I believe there was corn meal, cheese, zucchini and tomato involved), and a nice Currant wine.
That afternoon, Jérôme had to go vote, so he went to pick up his girlfriend Céline while I tried my hand at Prototype for the 360 (note: Frankie, you would like this game). With Céline and Benoit back at the apartment, we all walked to my old elementary school where the nearest polling stating was set up (I will post some pictures after my Turkey trip). After this, Benoit went home for dinner, and I went back to the apartment for some homemade crêpes (Amélie can cook - Frankie: take notes :P ), filled with either ham/emmenthal, or smoked salmon/asparagus/cream sauce. They were delicious! The dessert was, well, the unused crêpes, which I filed with jam. Yum!
After dinner, we picked up Benoit again and we all went to the local behemoth cinema (read: half the size of AMC Kanata) to take in a somewhat-romantic somewhat-comedy (which was, in fact, the best movie with seats still available) called "Pièce Montée". I hadn't seen a French film since the depressing Mélanie Laurent movie I watched a few weeks back, so I guess this was a nice treat. Of course, seeing as it was Sunday, we all had to get home early so some people could get to class this morning.
I woke up at 6:30 today, having slept little, but having greatly enjoyed my weekend. I bid farewell to Jérôme's father (his mom was sleeping and his sister ran out of the apartment while I was packing) and left to take the train at St-Quentin, direction Paris Montparnasse. At this point, I said goodbye to my friend, suggesting he come visit in Reims so he can see how 20-some-year-old business students party (I'm thinking WallStreet). I then took the metro to the RER station which brought me to the airport so I could take a bus to get to my hotel. I have to go back and redo all that when I eventually decide to go sightseeing, before heading to my concert tonight! Reminder: Peter Gabriel in Paris! It's going to be awesome!
Then, tomorrow, off to Istanbul, for what just might be the most amazing shopping spree, er, I mean, vacation, so far this year (I brought the big suitcase, I think I might just try to fill it).
Hope you all have a great week. I'll be back in Reims Sunday night so hopefully I'll post something then. If not, I will probably do so Monday night, after my first "Wine Marketing" class.
Cheers!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Absinthe Out of an Orange Juice Glass a.k.a. Prague!!
Good Afternoon,
I have just returned home from Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. I am exhausted after my 3-day trip, which included 2 train rides, 2 flights, a few metros and trams, and a hell of a lot of walking. But this was not just another one of my trips. No, this was something much more, much better. I will tell you the whole story from start to finish. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.
As always, I will start with a complaint. Prague is a pretty cold city in March. It snowed on the first day. It was -10C and windy the second day. I did not pack accordingly.
Ready for this? Still sitting down? That is my only complaint.
Prague is a beautiful city, with beautiful architecture, a rich history, and amazing scenery from the centre all the way to the outskirts. While not being a very large city, it is packed with things to see and do, many of which I will be describing to you in painful detail. From the biggest night club in Europe, to the largest medieval Castle in Europe, and even the only remaining building where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart actually performed (apparently), Prague has something for everyone.
I decided that this trip, no matter where I went, should not be done alone, as I have had too few purely positive experiences while travelling by myself. Having consulted with a few people, I found out that a fellow uOttawan, Freya, had already booked a trip to Prague. The city was on my list of things to see before coming home in June, so I decided to tag along. (Note: you can read Freya's own account of the Prague trip and the rest of her stay in Reims here.)
Prague is only 1 1/2 hours by plane from Paris. The city centre is a 45-minute bus/tram/metro ride from the airport. From the time I left Charles de Gaulle to my arrival in Praha 7, the district where my hostel was located, less than 4 hours passed. My hostel was the Extol Inn, a 2- and 3-star combination hotel/youth hostel which cost about 19E per night. This included one of the best breakfast buffets I've seen in recent years, as well as private room, and bathroom shared between three rooms. This last part wasn't an issue as there appeared to be no one staying in the other 2 rooms on my block.
The first night, after finding my hostel, unpacking, and purchasing my tourist transportation pass, it was time to meet Freya for dinner, so we could discuss the game plan for the next few days. Interesting sidenote, it is very helpful in this type of situation for both people to have functioning phones (sorry :P). After finding Freya's hostel, I was able to make my way there and we headed out into the Old Town (in the heart of the city) to find a suitable restaurant.
The one Freya suggested was a small restaurant with an incomprehensible name serving typical Czech food. The food was very good, the restaurant was very quiet (read: empty) and the overall atmosphere was very enjoyable. We then went back to her hostel where there is a free internet-enabled computer station to plan the next day.
We decided it would be best to start with the Prague Castle, located across the river from the city centre. It is more or less like the Alhambra I visited in Granada back in November, but much colder, and more medieval. The size is comparable, though unfortunately various groups throughout Prague's history, including Germans, Commies, and Swedes ransacked the place and many of the original furnishings are gone. The Swedes even went so far as to replace everything with IKEA furniture.
OK I made that last part up. There is still some real furniture, but wouldn't that be hilarious?
While in the Castle, we saw the St. George Cathedral, the main interior of the Castle, a few dungeons with instruments used for torture, and a small street called Golden Alley, given that title because this was where the blacksmiths and alchemists lived during the Middle Ages. During the time we were at the Castle, Freya and I were also treated to the daily changing of the guard. Something about the Czechs was just so intense. Perhaps it was the orders being yelled in their strange language, or the band playing from windows around the courtyard. Either way, it was really neat to see.
After the castle, it was too cold to move, so we shivered over to the Old Square, which had a Starbucks. Now, you know I'm not a fan of Starbucks. I know I'm not a fan of Starbucks. But it was cold, and I had lost all feeling in my limbs, so it was appropriate. After thawing for about 15 minutes, Freya and I parted ways so I could take a more detailed tour of the City Centre with a tour guide (something she had done the day before, as her plane landed in Prague about 3 hours before mine). She went off to take in a Dali exhibit (Spanish contemporary artist) while I continued to walk around outside with a tour group.
While on the tour, I saw the Old Square, Wenceslas Square, Jan Pollack Square, and a few other shapes. Also on the tour was a little restaurant called the Bohemian Bagel, where they actually serve just about anything a typical tourist could want, but the kicker is that they make it well. I had a piece of cheesecake, the best I've ever had outside of Canada, though as I was later reminded, the one from Granada was good too. Point is, Prague makes good cheesecake. After this little stop, the tour continued through the Jewish Quarter, then back to the centre so I could go home and warm up.
And warm up I did. I stood next to the heater in my room for about 20 minutes. Then I had to get changed into better clothes than a sweater and jeans, since Freya and I were headed to the Prague State Opera House to take in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet.
If the building itself wasn't impressive enough, the performance most certainly was. Though I must say this: having listened to a musical recording of the same ballet, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed at the mere 1h45m-show, composed of only 2 acts. My version had 4 acts and is over 2 hours long. I'm not entirely sure what changed, but in order not to give the wrong impression, I will re-iterate to you that the technique of the dancers and the glorious music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky were absolutely wonderful.
After the show, we headed back to Freya's hostel to briefly discuss plans for day 3. The verdict was that we would head to a prominent Modern and Contemporary art gallery (sensing a theme yet?), which also featured some French painters. Finding the building was interesting, as it was marked on the map as a "Palace", but since a fire destroyed the original structure, and the subsequent re-construction makes it look like an office building, we spent at least 10 minutes thinking "this can't possibly be it".
Once inside, however, the museum was quite impressive. While Modern and Contemporary Art aren't really my thing, I did find some interesting (and even quite pleasant) works by Léopold Survage and a few others. Though I still don't get how a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room can be considered art. That said, as Freya pointed out while we were there, one can find some inspiration for home décor in these exhibits. Indeed.
After the museum we went to go see The Dancing House, a Frank Gehry work of pure genius which towers above the streets and the river with surprising elegance. That's my intelligent way of saying "it was f***ing weird, but so cool!" I think I might even take the time to upload a picture directly onto the blog, so that everyone can see it. Just one though. :P
After the Dancing House, we were more or less done the tourist stuff, and we just decided to go for dinner, but not before making obligatory stops in various shops for souvenirs, etc. In no particular chronological order, trips were made to H&M, a sports apparel store, a regular souvenir shop, and a pet store. If you can guess which one was my pick, you win, well, nothing.
(@Nada: Yeah, I got the jersey :D )
We then proceeded to have dinner at a jazz-themed restaurant. Well, maybe "themed" isn't the right word, they do actually have live jazz music sometimes, and they've got signed posters and photos from all the greats, so that was cool. The food was decent, though I found not quite as good as the first night. Afterwards, we headed back to Freya's hostel, which has a bar next door, for a final drink before heading back to Reims. The drink of choice: Czech Absinthe. That's right, The Green Fairy. One shot of that, followed by a shot of Mead (honey-based alcohol-fortified wine), followed by a strange vodka cocktail which promised mango and delivered grapefruit. Oh well.
After a final goodbye, I took the metro back to the neighbourhood my hostel was in. The trams had stopped running by this time, but the walk from the metro station wasn't too bad. I left my hotel at 7:35 this morning in order to make a 10 am flight to Paris. I got to Reims around 2 pm my time, did my laundry, went shopping, walked downtown, walked back, and made dinner. A nice end to a busy but absolutely amazing week.
You may not be overly impressed by what I have just described to you. That's because you need to see Prague to really feel the awe I succumbed to for those 3 days. Having good company for the better part of the trip helped, of course, and I expected no differently. Prague just simply is a world-class city that everyone should visit at least once.
Some interesting facts about the Czech Republic: It gained independance from Russia in 1918 (as Czechoslovakia), survived WW2 nearly unscathed, and split from Slovakia in 1993. If you want to have a coffee that costs 75 of something, the Czech Koruny is the currency for you. 1 Euro = about 26 Koruny. The Czech language sounds like a mixture of Russian and Portuguese, while the script is basically English with a heavy use of accents on both vowels and consonants to change pronounciation. Phonetically speaking, it might actually be a good step between English and Russian.
Now that the week is ending, I can look back on this amazing adventure and think "Hey! Only 10 days til Turkey!" Oh come on, you saw that coming. Anyway, it was a wonderful trip, and I now have something to look forward to that I hope will compare to what I have just seen. I have two days of class this week, including a presentation and an exam, but these should be relatively easy. I will be posting a very select group of pictures on here, and the rest will be on Facebook. And again, don't forget, for the other side of the story, visit Freya's blog.
Hope you all enjoy your weekends!
P.S: Here are those select pictures I promised:
The Dancing House
Even the Hard Rock looks amazing in Prague
I have just returned home from Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. I am exhausted after my 3-day trip, which included 2 train rides, 2 flights, a few metros and trams, and a hell of a lot of walking. But this was not just another one of my trips. No, this was something much more, much better. I will tell you the whole story from start to finish. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.
As always, I will start with a complaint. Prague is a pretty cold city in March. It snowed on the first day. It was -10C and windy the second day. I did not pack accordingly.
Ready for this? Still sitting down? That is my only complaint.
Prague is a beautiful city, with beautiful architecture, a rich history, and amazing scenery from the centre all the way to the outskirts. While not being a very large city, it is packed with things to see and do, many of which I will be describing to you in painful detail. From the biggest night club in Europe, to the largest medieval Castle in Europe, and even the only remaining building where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart actually performed (apparently), Prague has something for everyone.
I decided that this trip, no matter where I went, should not be done alone, as I have had too few purely positive experiences while travelling by myself. Having consulted with a few people, I found out that a fellow uOttawan, Freya, had already booked a trip to Prague. The city was on my list of things to see before coming home in June, so I decided to tag along. (Note: you can read Freya's own account of the Prague trip and the rest of her stay in Reims here.)
Prague is only 1 1/2 hours by plane from Paris. The city centre is a 45-minute bus/tram/metro ride from the airport. From the time I left Charles de Gaulle to my arrival in Praha 7, the district where my hostel was located, less than 4 hours passed. My hostel was the Extol Inn, a 2- and 3-star combination hotel/youth hostel which cost about 19E per night. This included one of the best breakfast buffets I've seen in recent years, as well as private room, and bathroom shared between three rooms. This last part wasn't an issue as there appeared to be no one staying in the other 2 rooms on my block.
The first night, after finding my hostel, unpacking, and purchasing my tourist transportation pass, it was time to meet Freya for dinner, so we could discuss the game plan for the next few days. Interesting sidenote, it is very helpful in this type of situation for both people to have functioning phones (sorry :P). After finding Freya's hostel, I was able to make my way there and we headed out into the Old Town (in the heart of the city) to find a suitable restaurant.
The one Freya suggested was a small restaurant with an incomprehensible name serving typical Czech food. The food was very good, the restaurant was very quiet (read: empty) and the overall atmosphere was very enjoyable. We then went back to her hostel where there is a free internet-enabled computer station to plan the next day.
We decided it would be best to start with the Prague Castle, located across the river from the city centre. It is more or less like the Alhambra I visited in Granada back in November, but much colder, and more medieval. The size is comparable, though unfortunately various groups throughout Prague's history, including Germans, Commies, and Swedes ransacked the place and many of the original furnishings are gone. The Swedes even went so far as to replace everything with IKEA furniture.
OK I made that last part up. There is still some real furniture, but wouldn't that be hilarious?
While in the Castle, we saw the St. George Cathedral, the main interior of the Castle, a few dungeons with instruments used for torture, and a small street called Golden Alley, given that title because this was where the blacksmiths and alchemists lived during the Middle Ages. During the time we were at the Castle, Freya and I were also treated to the daily changing of the guard. Something about the Czechs was just so intense. Perhaps it was the orders being yelled in their strange language, or the band playing from windows around the courtyard. Either way, it was really neat to see.
After the castle, it was too cold to move, so we shivered over to the Old Square, which had a Starbucks. Now, you know I'm not a fan of Starbucks. I know I'm not a fan of Starbucks. But it was cold, and I had lost all feeling in my limbs, so it was appropriate. After thawing for about 15 minutes, Freya and I parted ways so I could take a more detailed tour of the City Centre with a tour guide (something she had done the day before, as her plane landed in Prague about 3 hours before mine). She went off to take in a Dali exhibit (Spanish contemporary artist) while I continued to walk around outside with a tour group.
While on the tour, I saw the Old Square, Wenceslas Square, Jan Pollack Square, and a few other shapes. Also on the tour was a little restaurant called the Bohemian Bagel, where they actually serve just about anything a typical tourist could want, but the kicker is that they make it well. I had a piece of cheesecake, the best I've ever had outside of Canada, though as I was later reminded, the one from Granada was good too. Point is, Prague makes good cheesecake. After this little stop, the tour continued through the Jewish Quarter, then back to the centre so I could go home and warm up.
And warm up I did. I stood next to the heater in my room for about 20 minutes. Then I had to get changed into better clothes than a sweater and jeans, since Freya and I were headed to the Prague State Opera House to take in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet.
If the building itself wasn't impressive enough, the performance most certainly was. Though I must say this: having listened to a musical recording of the same ballet, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed at the mere 1h45m-show, composed of only 2 acts. My version had 4 acts and is over 2 hours long. I'm not entirely sure what changed, but in order not to give the wrong impression, I will re-iterate to you that the technique of the dancers and the glorious music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky were absolutely wonderful.
After the show, we headed back to Freya's hostel to briefly discuss plans for day 3. The verdict was that we would head to a prominent Modern and Contemporary art gallery (sensing a theme yet?), which also featured some French painters. Finding the building was interesting, as it was marked on the map as a "Palace", but since a fire destroyed the original structure, and the subsequent re-construction makes it look like an office building, we spent at least 10 minutes thinking "this can't possibly be it".
Once inside, however, the museum was quite impressive. While Modern and Contemporary Art aren't really my thing, I did find some interesting (and even quite pleasant) works by Léopold Survage and a few others. Though I still don't get how a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room can be considered art. That said, as Freya pointed out while we were there, one can find some inspiration for home décor in these exhibits. Indeed.
After the museum we went to go see The Dancing House, a Frank Gehry work of pure genius which towers above the streets and the river with surprising elegance. That's my intelligent way of saying "it was f***ing weird, but so cool!" I think I might even take the time to upload a picture directly onto the blog, so that everyone can see it. Just one though. :P
After the Dancing House, we were more or less done the tourist stuff, and we just decided to go for dinner, but not before making obligatory stops in various shops for souvenirs, etc. In no particular chronological order, trips were made to H&M, a sports apparel store, a regular souvenir shop, and a pet store. If you can guess which one was my pick, you win, well, nothing.
(@Nada: Yeah, I got the jersey :D )
We then proceeded to have dinner at a jazz-themed restaurant. Well, maybe "themed" isn't the right word, they do actually have live jazz music sometimes, and they've got signed posters and photos from all the greats, so that was cool. The food was decent, though I found not quite as good as the first night. Afterwards, we headed back to Freya's hostel, which has a bar next door, for a final drink before heading back to Reims. The drink of choice: Czech Absinthe. That's right, The Green Fairy. One shot of that, followed by a shot of Mead (honey-based alcohol-fortified wine), followed by a strange vodka cocktail which promised mango and delivered grapefruit. Oh well.
After a final goodbye, I took the metro back to the neighbourhood my hostel was in. The trams had stopped running by this time, but the walk from the metro station wasn't too bad. I left my hotel at 7:35 this morning in order to make a 10 am flight to Paris. I got to Reims around 2 pm my time, did my laundry, went shopping, walked downtown, walked back, and made dinner. A nice end to a busy but absolutely amazing week.
You may not be overly impressed by what I have just described to you. That's because you need to see Prague to really feel the awe I succumbed to for those 3 days. Having good company for the better part of the trip helped, of course, and I expected no differently. Prague just simply is a world-class city that everyone should visit at least once.
Some interesting facts about the Czech Republic: It gained independance from Russia in 1918 (as Czechoslovakia), survived WW2 nearly unscathed, and split from Slovakia in 1993. If you want to have a coffee that costs 75 of something, the Czech Koruny is the currency for you. 1 Euro = about 26 Koruny. The Czech language sounds like a mixture of Russian and Portuguese, while the script is basically English with a heavy use of accents on both vowels and consonants to change pronounciation. Phonetically speaking, it might actually be a good step between English and Russian.
Now that the week is ending, I can look back on this amazing adventure and think "Hey! Only 10 days til Turkey!" Oh come on, you saw that coming. Anyway, it was a wonderful trip, and I now have something to look forward to that I hope will compare to what I have just seen. I have two days of class this week, including a presentation and an exam, but these should be relatively easy. I will be posting a very select group of pictures on here, and the rest will be on Facebook. And again, don't forget, for the other side of the story, visit Freya's blog.
Hope you all enjoy your weekends!
P.S: Here are those select pictures I promised:
Close-up from the Changing of the Guard
Typical Czech architecture
The Dancing House
Even the Hard Rock looks amazing in Prague
Friday, March 5, 2010
I'm never going to let this go...
Good Evening.
As I sit here contemplating whether I should sleep or watch another Jack Nicholson movie, I think to myself: What am I going to do with myself in the next few weeks?
I admit, I already have most of it planned. But consider the following: I have 2 days of class in the next 24, 6 days of class in the next 37. That's 4 weeks of vacation in the next 5. Even I didn't completely see this coming.
So here are my plans:
- Monday the 8th to Thursday the 11th : Prague
- Saturday the 20th to Sunday the 28th : Paris & Turkey
- Friday April 2nd to around the 9th or 10th : Provence (South of France)
I'm sure I've mentioned this all before, but I still can't believe that I'm getting credit for this.
Anyway, the last week has been reasonable. I've learned to tolerate my oh so talented M&A prof, have created a wonderful presentation on how the Canadian M&A market can be linked in every way to Hockey, oh and I know this is old now, but Canada won GOLD! I have rarely been so proud to wear the colours, especially to class, where the still-confused French people wondered how Canada qualified for the World Cup this year (hint: they didn't).
Looks like the weekend leading up to my visit of Czechoslovakia (shhhhh they don't like me calling it that) will be a slow one. With no one around and little to do, I may or may not leave my apartment. I will most likely just plan my trips, print some maps (and other appropriate paperwork) perfect my presentation, and continue learning Russian, one of the most fascinating languages I've come across (note: the alphabet is more or less a mix of backwards English letters, regular English letters with completely different pronounciations, and a few space invaders... don't believe me? look it up). Though I poke fun at cyrillic script now, I really am enjoying the learning experience. Once I master Russian, I will be able to understand over 66% of all hockey players. Think of the possibilities!
Anyway, I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're doing. I'm the one on vacation, it's rude of me to waste so much of your time.
:P
As I sit here contemplating whether I should sleep or watch another Jack Nicholson movie, I think to myself: What am I going to do with myself in the next few weeks?
I admit, I already have most of it planned. But consider the following: I have 2 days of class in the next 24, 6 days of class in the next 37. That's 4 weeks of vacation in the next 5. Even I didn't completely see this coming.
So here are my plans:
- Monday the 8th to Thursday the 11th : Prague
- Saturday the 20th to Sunday the 28th : Paris & Turkey
- Friday April 2nd to around the 9th or 10th : Provence (South of France)
I'm sure I've mentioned this all before, but I still can't believe that I'm getting credit for this.
Anyway, the last week has been reasonable. I've learned to tolerate my oh so talented M&A prof, have created a wonderful presentation on how the Canadian M&A market can be linked in every way to Hockey, oh and I know this is old now, but Canada won GOLD! I have rarely been so proud to wear the colours, especially to class, where the still-confused French people wondered how Canada qualified for the World Cup this year (hint: they didn't).
Looks like the weekend leading up to my visit of Czechoslovakia (shhhhh they don't like me calling it that) will be a slow one. With no one around and little to do, I may or may not leave my apartment. I will most likely just plan my trips, print some maps (and other appropriate paperwork) perfect my presentation, and continue learning Russian, one of the most fascinating languages I've come across (note: the alphabet is more or less a mix of backwards English letters, regular English letters with completely different pronounciations, and a few space invaders... don't believe me? look it up). Though I poke fun at cyrillic script now, I really am enjoying the learning experience. Once I master Russian, I will be able to understand over 66% of all hockey players. Think of the possibilities!
Anyway, I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're doing. I'm the one on vacation, it's rude of me to waste so much of your time.
:P
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